MOSCOW. Jan 13 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia benefits from joining the international cataloging system, for it is an international recognition of the fact that Russia can catalog her exported products, including military, by herself, chief of Gosstandart, state body charged with standardization, Boris Aleshin told a news conference on Monday.
According to Aleshin, this will considerably raise the exportability of Russian military hardware.
The agreement on coordination with the NATO cataloging system was signed between Gosstandart and NATO in Moscow on Monday.
Russia was represented by Aleshin, and NATO by Rear Admiral Guillermo Leira, Deputy Assistant Secretary General Defense Support.
"An important feature of all modern tenders is that the cataloging of the products is a must. It means that in a year no sophisticated knowledge-intensive products will be sold at a reasonable price without cataloging. That is why the Russian government pays that much attention to creating the national system and its coordination with the NATO system," Aleshin said.
He emphasized that the agreement would help in about halving the money now allocated for the procurement of parallel products.
"A cataloging system is first of all a unified language to communicate in delivering products to the international market," Aleshin said.
He recalled that to catalog a single item costs USD10 to 40 internationally. By way of illustration, he said that a modern fighter jet includes about 30,000 items like this.
NATO is also to profit from Russia joining its international cataloging system. NATO seeks to make its own system a foundation for a unified international one, including that for military products, Leira said.
According to Leira, NATO plans to cooperate with Russia in fighting terrorism and peacekeeping, which makes one give a clear standard description of the assets. A cataloging system is first of all a unified language, he said.
Leira also said that NATO was willing to expand the description of military hardware items concerning air defense, salvage operations, and other spheres, as planned to arrange within the framework of the Russia-NATO Council.
To date, 47 countries are participants in the system, including most traditional consumers of Russian-made arms, former Warsaw Pact states, Leira also said.